Europe to support production of Covid vaccines in Africa

Producing Covid-19 vaccines in Africa is one step closer after Team Europe formally agreed to support large-scale investment in vaccine production by the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, alongside other support measures.

The new manufacturing plant should reduce Africa’s almost total dependence on vaccine imports and strengthen future pandemic resilience on the continent.

The agreement is part of a major package of investment in vaccine and pharmaceuticals production in Africa launched by Team Europe in May, which brings together the European Commission, EU Member States, and the European Investment Bank, and other financial institutions, in line with the EU’s Strategy with Africa and the strategy of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing.

“Africa currently imports 99 per cent of its vaccines. But with today’s agreement, Team Europe is helping Senegal move one important step closer to producing its own vaccines and protecting Africans from Covid-19 and other diseases. And more will come. This is just the first part of a much broader Team Europe initiative to support the production of medicines and vaccines across Africa,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on July 9.

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